Charting the rise of Bauhaus and the International Style
1919 — 1951
In celebration of 100 years of the Bauhaus school of architecture, we look back at the birth and rise of this influential design movement. The Bauhaus was founded in Germany to create a functional architecture and design that responded to industrialisation and mass production. Yet, although it existed as a school, first in Weimar, then in Dessau between the years of 1919 to 1931, it wasn’t limited by time or geography.
The school brought Walter Gropius, Marcel Breuer, László Moholy-Nagy and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe together to collaborate, and even when it was forced to close in 1933 under Nazi rule, the group continued to collaborate and spread their functionalist ideas.
By the end of the 1930s, the four leaders had moved to the US following academic pursuits and the Bauhaus was reborn in Chicago at Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) as the ‘New Bauhaus’ in 1944. From Auerbach House to the Seagram Building, we chart the growth and maturity of the International Style, born from the Bauhaus.
Charting the birth of Bauhaus and the International Style
1919 — 1951
In celebration of 100 years of the Bauhaus school of architecture, we look back at the birth and rise of this influential design movement. The Bauhaus was founded in Germany to create a functional architecture and design that responded to industrialisation and mass production. Yet, although it existed as a school, first in Weimar, then in Dessau between the years of 1919 to 1931, it wasn’t limited by time or geography.
The school brought Walter Gropius, Marcel Breuer, László Moholy-Nagy and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe together to collaborate, and even when it was forced to close in 1933 under Nazi rule, the group continued to collaborate and spread their functionalist ideas.
By the end of the 1930s, the four leaders had moved to the US following academic pursuits and the Bauhaus was reborn in Chicago at Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) as the ‘New Bauhaus’ in 1944. From Auerbach House to the Seagram Building, we chart the growth and maturity of the International Style, born from the Bauhaus.
1919
• Walter Gropius founds the Bauhaus in Weimar to create an architecture and design school that responds to industrialisation
• Gropius becomes the first director
• Marcel Breuer joins the Bauhaus as one of the first and youngest students
Walter Gropius
MARCEL BREUER
1923
• László Moholy-Nagy starts teaching at the Bauhaus, replacing Johannes Itten
LÁSZLÓ MOHOLY-NAGY
1924
• Gropius designs Auerbach House near Weimar with Adolf Meyer, a milestone design of the early Bauhaus
1925
• The Bauhaus moves to Dessau, where Gropius designs the Bauhaus studio building
• Marcel Breuer returns to Bauhaus as a master and designs an early version of the bent metal Club chair (model B3)
Bauhaus School Dessau
1927
• Marcel Breuer designs interiors for the Weissenhofsiedlung housing project
EISSENHOFSIEDLUNG HOUSING
1928
• Gropius and Moholy-Nagy leave the Bauhaus
• Hannes Meyer becomes director
1929
• Ludwig Mies van der Rohe designs the Barcelona Pavilion
BARCELONA PAVILION
BARCELONA PAVILION
1930
• Mies van der Rohe becomes the last director of the Bauhaus and designs Villa Tugendhat in Czech Republic defining the functionalist style
VILLA TUGENDHAT
1933
• The Bauhaus is forced to close by the Nazis
•László Moholy-Nagy moves to the Netherlands
1934
• Walter Gropius moves to London, and lives in the Isokon building designed by Wells Coates
ISOKON BUILDING
1935
• László Moholy-Nagy moves to London, working as a photographer
1936
• Marcel Breuer moves to London, designs Sea Lane House in West Sussex and works with Jack Pritchard on Isokon furniture designs
ISOKON FURNITURE
1937
• Gropius moves to US and designs Gropius House in Lincoln, Massachusetts
• Breuer moves to the Harvard Graduate School of Design to work with Gropius
• Moholy-Nagy goes to Chicago, founding the New Bauhaus as a continuation of the work in Germany where he becomes director
• Mies van der Rohe emigrates to the US and becomes head of IIT in Chicago
GROPIUS HOUSE
1938
• Gropius becomes head of the architecture department at Harvard Graduate School of Design
1939
• Mies van der Rohe starts designing the IIT Campus in Chicago which completes in 1958
IIT Campus
1944
• New Bauhaus evolves into the Institute of Design at the IIT
1947
• Marcel Breuer designs his first house in Connecticut
Connecticut House
1951
• Mies van der Rohe designs the Seagram Building in New York City
